Okinawa 3, part 1

Upon entering the forest of Yanbaru we noticed the signs: watch out for the endangered Yanbaru Kuina, The Okinawa Rail. ヤンバルクイナ. We were quite keen ofcourse. I remembered a friend visiting in winter who had not seen any in the wild. But spring is different! They pop out on the road early mornings and we could see them around our hotel real close!

A birding tour of a few hours from 5:30 am produced around 10. There were 5 of us in a car, including the driver, so the person in the middle had a hard time taking photos. The more so since the windows wouldn't roll down all the way and we could not leave the car...

This friendly bird was parading in front of our breakfast table. Even non-birders enjoyed the show.

Other wings we found in the area are the Ryukyu haguro tombo,  ﾘｭｳｷｭｳﾊｸﾞﾛﾄﾝﾎﾞ

 Stick insect, ナナフシ. Their wings are those little things protruding from their back.

And the beautiful Junonia orithya, ｱｵﾀﾃﾊﾓﾄﾞｷ In Asia called the Blue Pansy (male)